The present invention relates to rendering web pages and, more particularly, to a wireless handset and a method and system for a wireless handset that better enable a user of the wireless handset to identify, select and view objects on a web page.
Many wireless handsets, such as mobile phones, personal data assistants (PDAs) and global positioning system (GPS) navigation devices, are Internet capable. However, most web pages are designed for rendering on more conventional Internet capable devices, such as personal computers or workstations. Since the displays on Internet capable wireless handsets are generally much smaller than the displays on more conventional Internet capable devices, web pages downloaded to Internet capable wireless handsets must be rendered in a manner that preserves the ability of the user to identify, select and view objects on the web page.
Some wireless handsets render web pages in a pan-and-view format. In these handsets, the display screen shows a small area of the web page with the rest of the web page being hidden from view. The user can scroll across and down the web page using a navigation tool to view different objects on the web page. The appeal of the pan-and-view format is limited since the user has to scroll the web page to locate and view the objects of interest. This involves trial-and-error and can require the user to traverse areas that are not of interest to reach the object of interest.
Other wireless handsets render web pages in a vertical scrolling box format. In these handsets, the objects on a web page are unanchored from their horizontal position and rendered in a long vertical scrolling box that is the width of the display. The appeal of the vertical scrolling box format is limited by the unnatural appearance to the user. The web page appears broken and the horizontal relationship between objects is lost.
Still other wireless handsets render web pages in a proportionately downscaled format. In these handsets, the web page is shrunk vertically and horizontally to fit within the display while essentially maintaining the aspect ratio of the web page. Moreover, the web browser segments the downsized web page such that when the user selects an object, the downsized web page is replaced with an enlarged view of the selected object. The appeal of this format is limited in that small objects on the downsized web page may be unrecognizable to the user and difficult to select.